The Next X
by Bio-Devil
Summary: Lucas Valiant is a young, wise cracking, super genius who is full of surprises. He has a bit of a shady and unfortunate past but he still has a strong grip on his future. But his happy life with his brother begins to unravel thanks to a certain pink haired spellcaster and the Teen Titans. This is the story of how Lucas becomes the next Red X.
1. Prologue

**Bio-Devil: Hello everyone, it's me, the Bio-Devil! I've got a brand new story about the Teen Titans. Not Teen Titans Go! though, sorry but I just do not like that show. For now I only have the Prologue but I hope you it's enough to get you interested.**

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**Prologue**

Late at night in the Titan's Tower, I looked out the window my room. _Huh, my room, I'll never get used to that._ At times like this I still can't believe I became a _Titan_. I looked at a nearby picture that sat on a Gothic nightstand. It showed me and my late brother, smiling, being happy despite the life we had. I never would've been here today if I weren't for the things he did for me, and the sacrifices that he made, including giving up his own life. There was so much I wanted to say to him, so many things I wanted to thank him for, and even more to apologize for. A pillow was thrown at the back of my head; I turned my head to see a beautiful girl with pink hair, matching cat-like eyes and pale skin; who was half asleep. She was lying in a bed that we shared giving off an annoyed aura.

"Bed, now," she ordered, pointing to the empty spot next to her. I ignored her order and turned back to the window, no sarcastic comment, now she knew something was wrong. She quickly sat beside me and placed her head on my shoulder. One of the many things I love about her, she always knows what to do when I'm like this. "What're you thinking about?"

"How I can't believe I'm here right now," I answer placing my head on top of hers and wrapping my arm around her waist. She snorted and playfully flicked my nose.

"Join the club dummy." I retaliate by kissing her on the forehead causing her to giggle. I glanced at the picture of me and my brother Deon.

"Feels like a long time ago."

"Yeah, I was robbing banks with the H.I.V.E. and you were making gadgets that were used in master thefts."

"Two people on the wrong sides of the law, brought together by chance, saw the light, and joined the Teen Titans. A regular Romeo and Juliet story."

"*Giggle* If you mean the guys couldn't stand you then yeah definitely."

"Hey it wasn't like Deon trusted you either." My playful mood died when I said his name. _That was a very bad choice of words, or a very bad way to narrate_. "I miss him…"

"I know," she said as she hugged me, her face still buried in my neck. "I do too. No matter how much he got on my nerves." I smiled and pecked her forehead again. "Alright enough with "memory lane", Robin will kill you if you oversleep again."

"Alright…" I yawned as we climbed into bed together. I quickly pulled her close for a quick spooning session, which she happily complied too. "I love you Jinx," I said after.

"I love you too Lucas," she instantly replied and then quickly fell asleep holding me. I didn't yet, because I still had to ask, _how the hell did I get here?_

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**Bio-Devil: And that's it! I hope you all will be looking forward to reading the rest of the story. See you next time!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Hello Everybody. Bio-Devil here with the first chapter of The Next X. It's been a while since I started this story but now the first chapter is up! I'll still be continuing this story but I've got other stuff to work on so please don't harp on me for updates...**

**Anyway her'es chapter 1 enjoy!**

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**Chapter 1: First Meeting**

In the office of L. Valiant PhD, I was busy tinkering with a supercomputer component while listening to epic rock-and-roll. It was just me working on it though, I couldn't really trust anyone else in Jump city's S.T.A.R. Labs because they'd all try to, poorly, sabotage my work and treat a me like little boy who wants to act grown up. They antics tend set me back for a bit but I always manage to pull through some way or another and, on rare occasions, those assholes get fired. Not my fault, but I won't be complaining. Hopefully their replacements will have more street smarts than a lost puppy.

I heard an explosion, and my mind instantly went to a high tech laser drill I built. I gave an exhausted sigh knowing that they no doubt blew it up and I had to completely rebuild it...again! But I wasn't in the mood for it so I planned to clock out and fix it tomorrow. Then there was a loud banging on my metal door.

"Lucas!" one of my colleagues yelled.

"Wittwe Wucas can't come to the doow wight now, pwease come back, when he doesn't want to kill you!" I barked back using the baby talk they use at me from time to time just to spite me, I switched back to normal around the whole 'kill you' part.

"Lucas you need the run!"

"I need to run? No, better keep your distance from me because I know you guys broke my drill!"

"Yeargh!" I looked at the door confused and went to open it. Instead of facing an asshole co-worker trying to pull my leg, I was looking at a large caveman with sharp canines.

"Can I help you?" I asked calmly. He seemed a little confused that I wasn't scared of him.

"Yeah," he said in a strong neanderthal-like voice. "Are you Lucas Valiant?" I'm not that well known but when people usually get the description of me it's very hard to mistake me for someone else. But I knew this guy's type, big and stupid,I could have some fun with him.

"Who wants to know?" I asked.

"The H.I.V.E. 5 that's who. Now are you Lucas Valiant or not?"

"Depends," I began with a blank expression. "Is he about as tall as me?" He nodded. "Does he have blonde hair in the front and brown hair in the back like me? Sort of a Honey, Cinnamon combo?" He nodded again. "And does he have bright purple eyes like me?" He nodded again, now smiling evilly. "Never heard of him."

"Wha...?" I quickly shut the door in his face. With my back to the door I counted to three with my fingers and when I reached one he yelled, "Hey wait a minute!" He forced the door open from the ground and glared at me.

"You know there's a panel right next to you that'll open the door for you."

"You're Lucas Valiant aren't you?"

"Now what gave you that idea?"

"You look just like him!"

"And it took you this long to put two and two together? Honestly that's quicker than I expected; would you like a pat on the back?" The Neanderthal glared at me.

"You know, you got a big mouth for such a little man."

"Of course I know that, I'm just surprised you have the brainpower to point that out."

"I also got enough brain powder to know where my hands go around your neck when I decide to strangle you!" I looked at him in disbelief and he grew confused.

"Did you seriously just say brain "powder"?" His eyes widened slightly.

"...No..." I shook my head in a disappointed manner, went to my desk, took out a piece of paper, and began scribbling on it much to the Neanderthal's confusion.

"Take this to Doris down the hall and don't look at it until you get there." I handed him the piece of paper that was folded in half. He looked at me completely puzzled. I scolded him and pointed strongly at the doorway and you know what he did? He actually left! He went down the hall like a kindergartener who didn't know what he's done wrong. While his back was turned I bolted the other way and hid in another room.

"Hey!" he yelled. By now he must have opened the paper and saw my cartoon head sticking its tongue out at him next to the word "Sucker!" "That's it! No one makes fun of Mammoth and gets away with it!" _I have a feeling I'll be the first,_ I thought smugly.

I found myself in the office of Dr. Koocher. A pompous, know-it-all that I easily outshine. His office was one of the many with a vent above his door that I could crawl through and get into the ventilation system. Through that, I could get outside. I hopped onto a filing cabinet and then onto the vent. Using a quarter in my pocket I unscrewed the bolts of the vent cover and crawled inside. I heard Mammoth charge into the office but I was already in the vent.

"Where are you, you little bastard!" he roared.

"Watch the language," I said in a singsong voice from inside the vent. I was most likely crawling over the hallway by now but Mammoth wasn't going to give up. A second later he was punching through the vent tunnels right behind me. I began crawling faster as Mammoth kept punching through the vent tunnels trying to grab me. I saw a second vent tunnel that led into somebody else's office. I quickly moved to said tunnel and tossed my quarter down the other vent tunnel and Mammoth's fists followed it.

I was safe, for a now any way. I kicked open the cover and dropped into the office of Dr. Rashmanov. He's smart but crazy, egotistical, and extremely paranoid. He always thinks someone is going to try and steal his work, I even saw him hide a stun gun under his desk. _Wait!_ I thought. _The stun gun!_ I checked under his desk and saw it being held by a duct tape holster. For once in my life I'm glad I work in the same building as that nutjob. I took the stun gun and went to the door. When it opened I was staring at Mammoth again. He gave me another smile with a hint of anger.

"You thought you could get away?"

"I'd ask what made you think you caught me, but I already know you didn't."

"Let's see if you can be so smug with your throat in my fist!"

"Hey! That's actually how you say it! Good boy!" Mammoth snarled at me as he stepped forward. I quickly activated the panel and the metal door closed on his foot. I snickered as Mammoth howled in pain. Mammoth opened the door and glared at as strongly as he could but I only smiled.

"You're going to pay for that!"

"You still have to catch me first. But good job opening the door though." this time Mammoth lunged forward only to get the door dropped on his head knocking him down.

"Why, you, little…!" Before he could finish I shoved the stun gun in his mouth and turned it on and made him have a spasm on the floor until he passed out.

"Night-night neanderthal." I reached into my pocket and pulled out a camera and took Mammoth's defeated picture. "This will be great for my photo album." With Mammoth dealt with I went into the lobby and headed for the exit only to be blocked by four guys in a red jumpsuit with an obelus on it.

"Look here Billy," one said. "Ain't that this Value kid we're suppose to kidnap?"

"His name is Valiant Billy," another said.

"Then let's get him Billy!" the third one said.

"Hold on a second!" I exclaimed. "You're all named Billy?"

"Yup!" they all said simultaneously. "I'm Billy Numerous."

"You can't all be Billy Numerous."

"Yes we can! We got this cloning ability that let's us make as many clones of ourselves as we want."

"Are you guys sure you're not just demented quadruplets?" I asked.

"Yes we're sure!"

"Okay, okay, relax now. Now why don't you 'Billys' just lie down and I'll see if I can call up a psychiatrist." The Billys all glared at me and then the next thing I knew I was surrounded by Billy clones.

"Ha! Now do you believe us?!" My taunting just made this situation a whole lot worse. But I had an idea in my head to get me out of this.

"Wow...Your big momma must've really wanted a girl for you to have so many brothers."

"We're not brothers! And don't you dare bring our momma into this!"

"'Our momma'. Yeah, it's quotes like that, that make me not believe you." The Billy's mumbled amongst themselves and then they all jumped into one Billy.

"Ha! Now do you believe me?"

"You bet," I said. Then I kicked him in the groin and hit him with the stun gun. "I also believe you're the epitome of a dumbass hillbilly." I watched him spasm on the ground while also trying to hold his injured groin with a smile. I take his picture and headed for the front door. But before I could reach it, the ceiling suddenly exploded and the rubble blocked the door.

"Crap…" I said, seeing as there is no way to remove the rubble by hand.

"You got that right butt sniffer!" I looked behind me to see a kid in some kind of personal hovercraft. "Now are you gonna do the smart thing and come with us quietly or do I gotta knock you unconscious first?"

"With missiles?" I asked watching him aim the missile launchers on the hovercraft he had at me. "Because those will knock me out permanently."

"Don't worry crud-muncher, it's not the missiles that you need to worry about, it's the blast." The flying brat fired his missiles near me. I jumped forward narrowly avoiding the blast and began running into the deeper part of the labs while the kid fired his missiles at me. "You can run, Chicken Valiant, but you can't hide!"

"Where'd you get your insults, an Adventure Time Bargain Bin?!" I hide behind a hallway vending machine while the toddler in the floating inner tube was flying around searching for me. _This is just crazy,_ I thought as I snuck into the office of Prof. Wester. His office also had a vent that led to the ventilation system but I had nothing to unscrew the bolts with. I looked around Wester's office for something I could use, he would always grab random things when he was deep in thought and leave them in his office until someone came and picked them up. I lost count of the many times I came here to get back a central processor he took. I just needed one of those objects to be able to unscrew the vent, like a ruler, or the quarter I really wished I still had, or the screwdriver underneath his desk, that'll be just perfect!

I grabbed the screwdriver and Wester's rolling desk chair and stood on it to unscrew the vent. Yes it was dangerous, but so was making a loud enough noise to help the male, bald, Tinier Tina figure out where I am. The vent came of and I crawled inside and then into the Gaseous Lab and right now they were full of Methane tanks, which gave me an idea. I released the tanks' contents, knocked over a table, and hid when the flying toddler came in.

"I know you're in here, Mud-Licker!" he said when he flew in. I had to leave the room quickly and quietly, one spark and this room while light up like a New York Christmas Tree. I tossed a beaker across the room but instead of following the noise he came my way. I quickly hid somewhere else before he found me.

"That ain't gonna work on me, scum sucker! I'm way too smart to fall for that!" _He's trying to outsmart me,_ I clarified in my head with a smirk. _Cute..._ I took another beaker and instead of throwing it I smashed it in front of me and snuck out when that kid went in the opposite direction.

"Are you hard of hearing, grease monkey?! I said that's not gonna work on me?"

"Thanks for telling me," I said when I was out of the lab. I was leaning on the opposite wall when the kid glared at me through the doorway.

"You can't run forever, turd breathe!"

"I don't have to, Baby Boy." The kid's glare hardened and he prepared another missile.

"You asked for this, snot muncher!"

"Bring it on, Wittwe Timmy!"

"My name is Gizmo!" Gizmo fired the missile but I easily rolled away in time. As for Gizmo, the thruster on the missile made the entire lab explode. Gizmo rolled out of the room, blackened, dazed, and coughing up smoke.

"Consider that your time out, Wittwe Gizmo." I took Gizmo's picture and headed for the back door, which is now the only way out. I went to the door but before I could grab the door a gelatinous eyeball hit it and covered the door.

"What the hell..."

"Sup Lucas." I turned around and saw a guy in a green and white costume with a big green helmet that gave him one eye.

"What the hell is that?" I asked pointing at the door.

"It's one of my eye bubbles go ahead and touch it. It'll make my job easier."

"Where did it come from?" I asked pretending to be interested.

"My helmet." he said proudly.

"How does it work?" I asked examining the helm in question.

"It has a bunch of special eyes that each have a different ability."

"Get out!" I said with fake enthusiasm.

"No really. one eye turns into a blimp, another one is a heat ray, and another eye has x-ray vision..."

"Do you have night vision?" I asked when an idea popped into my head.

"'Do I have night vision', ha! Of course I have night vision." He turned the dial on the side of his helmet and his big eye turned to a dark green one. "See?"

"Say cheese..." I took out my camera and took his picture. The guy screamed and covered his eye when the flash blinded him. I took the opportunity to punch him hard in the stomach. He crumbled down, then I grabbed him and threw him into his eye bubble. He landed face first with his body spread out, meaning he's not going to get out of there by himself anytime soon.

"I'm gonna skip the whole sticky situation joke if you don't mind." I said taking another picture of eye guy in his more pathetic state. I was about to head into Dr. Kootcher's office, her office has large windows so if I can just break one and jump out I'll be home free. I was in front of the door, but before I could open it someone grabbed me from behind. I struggled to break free but whoever was holding me was strong. But he was also underestimating me by putting me in a basic lock. I reverse headbutted him and his hold loosened enough for me to get loose. I was now staring down a kid dressed in a lookalike Batman costume.

"You know Batman may be violent but he's not a bad guy?" The kid just glared at me and took a strong step forward. I looked at him confused. _Was he trying to get me to run?_ I thought. The Batman wannabe saw that his scare tactic failed and was now looking a bit embarrassed. Now he went into a fighting stance. I was down with out witting would-be criminals for one day so I decided to go into a fighting stance myself, I hadn't practiced my martial arts in a while. But instead of a fight Bat-kid looked at me confused, I used that to my advantage. I lunged at him punched him in the face, kicked his shin, flipped him over my shoulder and onto the ground, and kicked him in the face sending him into the wall. The Bat-kid went limp on the floor and then looked at me in shock.

"What?" I asked with a big smile. "Did you think that just because I'm a scientist meant that I didn't know how to fight?" He nodded sheepishly. "Well then I that makes you the idiot here doesn't it?" Before he could answer, or just nod again, I dropped my knee on his face, knocking him out, and then took his picture. By my count, now that Bat-kid was dealt with, I shouldn't have to worry about this H.I.V.E. 5 group anymore. I opened the door to Dr. Kutcher's office feeling victorious, only to get blasted into the wall by some kind of pink energy wave. I looked at my attacker to see a girl with pale skin, pink hair horseshoe shaped, and a gothic dress and boots. All in all I found her pretty cute, but she didn't seem to be very friendly despite the smug/evil smile.

"Would you like to come quietly or heavily bruised?" she asked.

"Was that supposed to be witty?" I asked back. Her smile was gone now.

"Bruised it is then." She sent another blast at me and I rolled out of the way in time. The girl flipped over to me and tried to kick me in the face. In caught her foot and threw her into the wall.

"Not bad," she said as she got up easily.

"Wish I could say the same." Now she was pissed. Next thing I knew the ground began to shake and tore apart as a big pink energy wave hit me from the ground. I flew into the fall and watched as the girl strutted over here proudly before I blacked out.

I later woke up in a large cage with a splitting headache. I saw the cage was in some in kind of living room with a bit of a hive theme I heard a few mumbled voices that became clearer when someone said: "Look who's awake." I looked up and saw the H.I.V.E. 5 members, all six of them. Mammoth, Billy Numerous, Gizmo, the Eye Guy, Bat-Kid, and finally the girl that got the drop on me. They were all there and all the boys glaring at me. The girl walked up to me in the cage and kneeled down to look me in the eye.

"Comfy?" she asked smirking.

"Yes actually," I said as I stared into her pink cat-like-eyes. She wasn't amused. "Where am I?"

"You're in the H.I.V.E. 5's lair," she said proudly standing up.

"I gotta ask, why are you called the H.I.V.E. 5? There are six of you? Is Wittwe Gizmo not a full member yet?"

"I am too a full member!" Gizmo yelled at me. The girl glared at Gizmo for his outburst and he shrunk in shame.

"Seriously though, why am I here?"

"That's for us to know and for you to find out," Eye Guy said.

"Hmm...some evil organization hell bent on world conquest wants you guys to kidnap me so I can build a weapon or something for them so they can achieve it. That the basic gist?" Silence. "Shocker..."

"If you're so smart then how come we caught you?" Eye Guy asked.

"'We'?" the girl asked angrily looking at Eye Guy angrily. "I, caught him! You losers got your asses kicked!"

"I gotta agree with her, Eye Guy. Especially since I did the kicking."

"My name isn't Eye Guy. It's..."

"Wait! Let me guess. It's something stupid like...See-More?" See-More said nothing, his lips were clamped down together in anger and then he just stormed out. "I, am, good." I glanced at the girl who had her hand over her face and her other hand on her matching hip. My smile widened.

"Okay you guys just keep an eye on him while I call the Brotherhood of Evil." the girl said walking to the big computer. The four guys, eight if you count the four Billys, sat in front of my cage, except for Bat-kid, and glared at me. Something tells me I'm not well liked here…The Brotherhood of Evil's logo appeared on the screen and then this french woman in red appeared on the screen.

"Zis is a reserved frequency," she stated. "Who are you?"

"Madame Rouge," the girl began nervously. "My name is Jinx. We-we talked when you gave us a job to…"

"You are vasting my time vat do you vant?"

"W-We've captured Lucas Valiant!"

"Did you now?" Jinx moved aside and displayed me like I was the grand prise in a raffle contest. As Madame Rouge looked me over I stuck my tongue out at her. "Charming. You, Jinx, listen vell. Ze Brain has need of Lucas's capabilities so he must be kept alive. That means feeding him and keeping him unharmed."

"Oh, so Mammoth isn't allowed to hurt me even if I say…" I turned to him with a smug smile and gained his confused attention. "Hey cupcake, how's your head?" In an instant blind fury Mammoth threw his arm in the cage, I scootched to the back and watched with a big smile as Mammoth tried to squeeze his way in.

"Mammoth!" Jinx screamed. Billy Numerous cloned himself until there were enough to pull Mammoth off the cage.

"Get off me! I'll kill him!"

"He ain't worth it!" The Billys said. They pulled Mammoth into another room and had to multiply more when Mammoth began pushing forward harder due to me laughing at the sight. Jinx turned back to Madame Rouge with a sheepish grin. Madame Rouge however, was not happy.

"I'll be zere in a few days time after I conclude my business here. Make sure you amators have him for me _alive_I" With that Madame Rouge signed off and Jinx turned around and glared hard at me, it only caused me to smile and wave. Her glare turned to Mammoth when he and Billy re-entered the room.

"What was that!" Jinx yelled at the Neanderthal causing him to flinch.

"He-he called me cupcake..." Mammoth replied sheepishly.

"You went Berserk because he called a desert?! You just made us look completely stupid in front of Madame Rouge!"

"He shouldn't have called me cupcake!"

"You should grow a thicker shell!"

"How's he supposed to do that?" I asked. "Use one of those magic candy shell ice cream toppings?" Mammoth started to growl at me.

"Mammoth! If you can't control your temper around Lucas then leave!"

"Though I suppose if you just leave him out in the open for a while the cake part of him will get all hard and crumbly," I continued. Mammoth started mumbling angrily and ultimately decided to leave the room.

"Wow," one Billy said as he left.

"You sure know how to piss a guy off," another Billy added.

"It's a gift."

"A very annoying one," Jinx said venomously. I dramatically placed the back of my right hand on my forehead and my left on my heart and pretended to be wounded. She just continued to glare at me.

"He should just use that whole 'sticks and stones' thing," another Billy said.

"Did Big Mama Numerous teach you that?" I asked.

"Leave our mama alone!" They all yelled ganging up on the cage. By now Jinx was so fed up she personally pulled of each Billy and threw them out.

"And don't come back until you learn to behave yourselves!" She yelled at him. She stormed back here to be greeted by Gizmo, Bat-Kid, and me with my big ol' smile.

"What nose picking kids…" Gizmo mumbled.

"Like your one to talk," I said.

"Are you trying to say something, snot man?"

"Isn't it time for your nap Wittwe Gizmo?"

"Stop calling me that you crud nugget! I'm not a toddler!"

"Your insults say otherwise."

Gizmo was about to blow a gasket when he caught Jinx's glare. Gizmo then stormed out. Jinx sighed exhausted and Bat-Kid just glared at me and stood in a watcher style arm cross.

"You know..."

"Be quiet!" Jinx snapped. "Not one more word comes out of your mouth!" I smiled at her outburst and nodded at her request. I stood up and copied Bat-Kid's arm cross and expression. I notice his scowl deepen and I deepened my own. We just kept glaring at each other until Bat-Kid just suddenly walked out.

"Wha-Kyd Wykkyd! He didn't even say anything."

"Kyd Wykkyd?" Jinx shot me a death glare and Kyd Wykkyd left. Jinx sat on a chair in front of the cage with her hand on her head.

"Congrats," she said defeated. "You managed to piss off every guy here. Is that a new record or something?"

"Five guys in a couple of minutes...that's Tuesday. Especially when it's so easy to get under their skin."

"Do you make it hobby of making people angry?"

"It's a family trait, one that I use frequently at work."

"So you piss of your colleges for fun?"

"Fun and because they deserve it. They always treat me like a kid and screw with my stuff to find the tiniest flaw so they can hold me back."

"...I can relate, the guys don't take anything seriously, all they care about is robbing candy stores and parking meters. I'm trying to get in the big leagues but these nimrods are dragging me down. That "cupcake" incident didn't help by the way."

"Oh I'm sorry, you only kidnapped, and sold me off to the Brotherhood of Evil. I should be nicer to my villainous hosts!" The last part sounded a little nastier than I intended but Jinx seemed to get the message. "But anyway, I wouldn't get your hopes up about the Brotherhood, they could be even worse."

"Why?"

"Because S.T.A.R. Labs is considered the big league as well and practically everyone in there is a complete jerk."

"Like your one to talk."

"I'm only a ass to people who give me a reason to be. You guys gave me plenty of reasons back at the lab. But like I was saying just because the Brotherhood seems great doesn't mean they are. The grass ain't always greener on the otherwise sweetheart, and that goes double for any villain organizations."

"And you know this how?" _A very difficult past that forced me to work for bad people,_ I thought but didn't say out loud.

"I'm not proud of how I know, but I know..."

"...That's it? Just 'I know'. No witty comment that makes me want to strangle you?"

"So you admit I'm witty." I said smugly while laying down in the cage with my hand behind my head.

"And there it is!" she seethed through clenched teeth. I snickered and then an escape plan formed in my head.

"Hey Jinx, I'm hungry."

"So?"

"So, Madame Rouge says you need to feed me."

"I'm not your caterer!"

"Okay, so then you can just let me starve and disappoint Madame Rouge more." Jinx glared at me for a few more seconds before getting and walked away.

"Oh and one more thing; call me sweetheart again and I'll throttle you!" I waited for the sound of a door opening and closing before I leaped into action. I took the old style lock that held the door closed and used a pressure point trick to force it open by hand. By the time the cage door was unlocked another door opened. I turned around to hide the lock and faced Mammoth who walked back into the room. I don't know why he was here but I needed him to leave.

"What's up buttercup?" I asked with my signature smugness. Mammoth glared at me but didn't turn back.

"You know...if I'm a cupcake or a buttercup, then that makes you...broccoli!"

"I'm broccoli?"

"Yeah! Your green...furry...you taste bad...and no one likes you...even with cheese on top!" _Okay, green...no, furry...barley, bad taste...I haven't tasted myself recently...actually I never tasted my self before so who knows, and that last comment was clearly about my attitude and the blonde parts of my hair._ Usually when people try to start a battle of wits I like to milk it just to make them look stupid, but I needed Mammoth gone before Jinx came back with whatever crap she brought me. Luckily I knew the perfect comeback.

"Did you use up all your brain powder thinking about that, cupcake?" Mammoth's whole face went red and I wasn't sure whether he'd leave or try to attack me. Then he turned around and stormed out again. I quickly burst out of the cage and ran to the main computer. While I probably could escape by myself it'd be easier if I called for backup. I hacked the mainframe and secretly set up a holographic marker above the base that only a certain set of electronic visors could see. Afterwhich I quickly ran back into the cage and locked the door. By the time Jinx came back in I was in the cage, lying down in the same position as when she left.

"Here," she said throwing in a poorly made sandwich into the cage.

"Ooh, spoil me..."

"If you choke on it, it's your own fault."

"Yet Madame Rouge will still blame you." I said eating the sandwich.

"No she won't!"

"Want me to choke on this sandwich to find out?"

"If it'll shut you up then yes! Please, choke on it!"

"Well since you ask so nicely." I shoved the whole sandwich in my mouth and began making choking sounds.

"Very funny...You can stop now." I kept the act up and began pounding my chest and then I was flailing on the floor. "Seriously that's enough!" I stopped flailing and just layed on the floor motionless. "Alright knock it off!...Valiant...? Oh shit!" I heard her open the cage door and the next thing I knew she was on top of me and giving me chest compressions. "I was only kidding!" Before I could stop her one of Jinx's violent chest compressions caused a piece of the sandwich to get lodged in my windpipe. I flailed for real now and shoved Jinx off me. I began pounding my chest and successfully hacked up the wet, mashed up, piece of sandwich and spat it out across the room.

"You okay?" Jinx asked.

"I was just fine until you started 'helping'!" I snapped.

"Well you shouldn't have pretended to choke!"

"And you should be ready to explain to Rouge of how I suddenly have a cracked rib!" Jinx grew quiet and if she wasn't pale already, she now became a ghost. "You might have just bruised it..." I said trying to calm her down. Jinx glared and locked me back in the cage.

"I don't need your charity," she said irritated.

"Okay then I'll lean towards cracked." Jinx and I traded glares for a bit until we heard the sounds of a fight coming from the other room.

"What's that?" she asked herself not noticing me unlocking the door with my lock trick.

"That will be my backup." Jinx looked at me shocked. I just stood there with my hands in my pockets. "I'll be taking my leave now."

"Not going to happen!"

"How adorable...you can stop me." Jinx tried to tackle me but I jumped over her. A rib is definitely bruised but I'll live. Jinx prepared for another attack but the door flew open and a red x struck her and pinned her to the nearby wall. Jinx was completely shocked when she saw Red X walk into the room.

"R-Red X?! What are you doing here?!"

"Doing my job," Red X replied. He motioned for me to follow him, which I did of my own free will. By then I remembered something.

"Wait a second!" I said. Red X stopped and watched as I walked up to Jinx and took out my camera. "Say cheese." Jinx bared her fangs at me and I took her picture as she struggled to get free of the x. "That's a keeper."

"Good, you got your souvenir, now let's go!" Red X ordered.

"Sure thing. It was lovely meeting you Jinx. I hope we'll meet each other again."

"Oh don't worry!" she spat back angry. "We will. And you won't get away next time!"

"Then I look forward to humiliating you and your boys again." By then Red X was sick of waiting and just dragged me out by my wrist.

Back in Jump City, I walked into the apartment I called home. It was a cozy apartment, big enough for two people and a guest, but nothing fancy or expensive that'll attract the cops attention. I walked in through the door while Red X climbed in through the window. He said I'd be in trouble if I was seen with him.

"Are you okay?" he asked looking me over.

"I think I got a bruised rib but other than that, considering evrything that happened, I'm just peachy," I said.

"Well that's a relief." Red X removed his mask and let his shaggy black hair loose.

"Try not to overreact, Deon." Red X is really Deon Valiant, my older brother. While I try to maintain an honest living Deon breaks the law to keep money in the bank, in a secret account hidden from police eyes thanks to me.

"Right because this is the first time you were kidnapped?"

"First time I was kidnapped by supervillains."

"Point. What'd they want anyway?" Deon asked taking off his suit and stashing it into a secret compartment I built in his room.

"They wanted to give me to the Brotherhood of Evil for something," I replied sitting on the livingroom couch being mindful of my bruised rib.

"The Brotherhood...yeah they're trouble…"

"Didn't you sign up with them at one point?"

"I was just checking them out! Most organizations like that only care about getting rich, so i figured…"

"I know what you figured, but we came here to get away from those kinds of people like Old "Uncle" Osi!"

"There's always going to be people like Cobblepot! Moving to a new city is not going to change that."

"Maybe so, but we can make sure we're not deep in a Cobblepot's pockets!"

"Whatever, I bailed the first chance I got."

"While managing to get their shit list as well."

"Nothing we haven't dealt with before."

"Doesn't mean I want to experience it again!" After an awkward period of silence he then asked: "What are we going to do now?"

"I don't know about you, but first I gotta make sure my rib is all right. Then I go back to work and make sure my stuff is still functional."

"You were just kidnapped and all you can think about is work!"

"If the cops now about this they'll investigate us. That'll bring them here, and that could give them a chance to find your Red X suit and then we'd both be screwed."

"If that happens I'll make sure they know you didn't steal anything…"

"But I still aided and abetted a criminal. I'm going to jail too if you get caught."

"Well we can't just pretend this didn't happen!"

"Either that or risk getting busted by the cops."

"...Motherfucking...fine, you win, but I'm going with you!"

"Are you going with me or is Rex X going with me?"

"Both."


	3. Message from the Author

**To the fans of the Next X. I have some unfortunate news. Sadly the Next X is not coming along like I wanted it to and sometime soon I am planning on terminating the story.**

**But don't fret. I do plan on making a better story involving Lucas Valiant as Red-X and getting paired up with a pink haired hex thrower. The new story may not take place in the Teen Titans Universe but I'll till use that version of Jinx, because it's my story and I like it like that. **

**Anyway I do apologize for this but it's just not coming along like I thought.**


End file.
